Silver Age Comic Books Part 2

In Part 1 I talked about the CGC rating system for comic books. Now I have some scans of my books that are CGC rated. The Brave and the Bold No. 28 is the first appearance of Justice League of America. My issue received a grade of 3.5. That puts it in the Very Good range (3.5 to 4.5 is very good). The sealed vinyl around the issue mutes the color in the scan.

A website that brings buyers and sellers together is www.comiclink.com. Currently there are 4 issues of No. 28 on sale there now. There is a 4.5 rated issue (a little better rating than mine) that has a sale pending at $902.00. There's an issue rated 6.5 that has a sale pending at $2500.00. The 5.5 rated book has an asking price of $2275.00. An issue rated 2.0 has an asking price of $425.00 and a bid of $325.00.

I have a Green Lantern No. 26 that has a rating of 4.5. I have a Brave and Bold No. 29 (second JLA appearance) with a rating of 2.5. My JLA No. 15 has a rating of 5.5.



Also, I scanned a few covers that haven't been graded and their condition varies. But it's a sampling of the kinds of books I have. The Batman issue is not in good condition, but it's interesting because it's one of the older books I have. I bought it used when I was a kid and it's almost Golden Age (it's dated 1956). Dell Comics published the Zorro series to coincide with the ABC-TV series in the late fifties. Another cover is a Marvel Comic from 1965. And of course, there was Jimmy Olsen. This cover is from 1960.

Silver Age Comic Books Part 1

When I was a kid comic books were a main interest for me. My guilty confession is that I learned most of my reading skills from comic books. I have a specific memory of looking through a Detective Comics and not knowing the words, yet following the story through the pictures. Understanding the words came later. At one time I had a chest that was filled with comic books.

Comic books seemed like a magic world for me as a child. I looked forward to going to the pharmacy where comic books were sold and the anticipation of seeing the new arrivals was incredible. I learned when the new deliveries were made so that I could be sure and not miss anything. In between I would reread the comics I had.

Sadly, the allure of comics dimmed as I got older. Still, I think it’s interesting to look at the covers of some of those old comic books. I’m interested in the artwork and the covers bring back thoughts of the time and place of some old memories.

My fantasy now is to go back in some kind of time machine and tell myself to save all of those comics in plastic covers and don’t let them get away. The comics that I had were from the Silver Age and some of those issues fetch a good sum of money now if they’re in fine or mint condition. If I had known then what I know now…

Many of my comics did disappear. Not knowing the value, I told my mother it was okay to sell some to her music students. I have sold a few at better prices. I had a number one issue of Green Lantern that was in fine condition. I sold it to someone from Charleston, SC who drove to Atlanta to buy it and a few other books I showed him.

I still have a fairly large collection of comic books of varying grades and value. I have trouble getting a handle on what I have and figuring their worth. It’s a work in progress, I suppose.

The reason I’m writing about this now is that DragonCon is coming to Atlanta on Labor Day Weekend and I have some books I’d like to show to collectors. Last year, I went to the trouble and expense of sending off four of my books to have them officially graded. It was a test to understand how this collectors’ grading system works. The CGC number is very official and the comics are sealed in plastic with their CGC number grade and a verbal description of their condition. It’s a system that’s a standard for collectors.

In addtion to these I have a large number of books that have no official grade but I’ll try to put a value on them myself based upon what I’ve learned.

In the next couple of days Im going to scan my CGC graded books and a few others I have. Those scans and the books’ appraisal will be part 2 of this blog post. At the top of this post is a copy of one of the books I've had graded.

Bernard Herrmann

A few nights ago Taxi Driver was on TV. One interesting feature of this film is that its musical score is the last work of Bernard Herrmann. If you’re a Hitchock movie fan (as I am), you’ve heard Herrmann in several movies. He was the “sound” of Hitchcock for a period from the mid-fifties (The Trouble with Harry) to the mid-sixties (Marnie). It was Brian De Palma (influenced a lot by Hitchcock) who recommended Herrmann to Martin Scorsese.

Herrmann’s music fit the Hitchcock films very well and it’s hard to imagine those movies without his music. There’s an adrenaline in the music that helps build the suspense.

Speaking of suspense, here’s music from Psycho:



The opening of Vertigo:



Scottie’s dream:



Herrmann didn’t write the music in this next segment (The Man Who Knew Too Much) but he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for this sequence. This has 9 minutes without any dialogue:



And the theme from Scorsese’s Taxi Driver:

The Third Man

There are a few films that have a timeless attraction and a fascinating interest to film buffs decades after they were made. One of those is The Third Man, one of my favorite movies. There are just so many interesting elements in this film.

I’ve seen The Third Man a number of times, but I was surprised that Roger Ebert says he has seen it 50 times! Here’s a video link to Roger Ebert’s comments about The Third Man:



As mentioned in Roger Ebert’s comments, Orson Welles’ delayed entrance is one of the most dramatic in film history. Here’s that scene:



I’ve read that the cat in that scene was Orson Welles’ cat.

Another element of the movie was the addition of the zither music by Anton Karas. It was added almost as happenstance, when the musician was discovered playing in Vienna while the film was being shot.

Here are the opening credits with the music of Anton Karas:



Ultimately, though, the character of Harry Lime is the key in this film. He’s a sociopath, but his charisma makes it hard for friends to believe he could be. Orson Welles was perfect in this role.